Ethnic cleansing of Zamojszczyzna

Also known as Aktion Zamość, an operation which aimed at mass expulsions from Zamojszczyzna region (Zamość region) of ethnic Polish population led by Germans during World War II between November 1942 and March 1943. 

Zamojszczyzna fell victim to this German policy with 116,000 Poles expelled to concentration camps or forced labour in the 3rd Reich. 30,000 children lost their homes, taken away from their parents, killed, sent to the camps or germanised. 

It is estimated by historians that 200,000 Polish children were germanised in total during WWII. Only 30,000 got back home after war. If one may say that there was still any home standing, not to mention lost home and exterminated relatives.

Child abduction was claimed to be genocide by International War Tribunal in Nurnberg. UNESCO conference in Trogen, Switzerland in 1948 confirmed the action of child abduction and extermination as a crime against humanity.

Heinrich Himmler, whom Zamość „the Rennaissance Pearl” was offered by Hitler as a ‘gift’ conducted the whole action together with notorious Odilo Globocnik who resided in Lublin. This was planned as a first ‘act’ of ethnic cleansic before the entire General Goverment terrirory was to be emptied of indigenous Polish population. Germans dreamt of Drang nach Osten, wanted to create Lebesraum (Life span) for their people on the fertile lands located in south eastern Europe.

„The camp in Zamość , located on S. Okrzei street, served as the transit point for selections and further deportations. In the first month of Action Zamość the camp processed 7,055 Polish inhabitants of 62 villages. 

People were divided into four main categories with the following code letters: 

• "WE" (re-Germanization), 
• "AA" (transport to the Reich), 
• "RD" (farm-work for the settlers), 
• "KI" (Kindertransport), 
• "AG" (work in the General Government),
• "KL" (concentration camp). 

Those expelled from Zamojszczyzna to perform slave labour in Germany were loaded onto trains departing for temporary displacement camps governed by main resettlement HQ in Łodź. People from the last group were sent to the German Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Majdanek.

The camp in Zamość processed 31,536 Poles according to Germany's own records, or 41,000 based on postwar estimates.

I have seen with my own eyes how the Germans took children away from their mothers. The act of their forcible separation shook me terribly... The Germans beat them with whips until the blood flew in case of slightest opposition, mothers and children alike. One could hear moaning and crying throughout the entire camp on those occasions... I have also seen small children being killed by the Germans. – Leonard Szpuga, farmer expelled from Topólcza related. 

Children suffered the most in those camps. 

The average stay lasted several months. Starvation, cold, disease were fatal for them a lot more often than for adults. Separated from their parents, children were transported in cattle car (100 up to 150 children in one car) to other destinations. Many of them were sent to the concentration camp for children run side-by-side with the Łódź Ghetto. Kinder KZ processed up to 13,000 children. News about enormous drama of children from Zamojszczyzna quickly spread through entire country. Polish railwayman were forwarding messages about transports to inhabitants of the cities where transports were stopping by. There were several stations where ordinary people took a chance and risked rescuing the children, like in Sobolew, Żelechów, Siedlce, Garwolin, Pilawa and Warsaw. 

Another deportation action, called Operation Werwolf, was conducted during the summer of 1944 ahead of the Soviet advance. Many of the inhabitants were forced to evacuate after being previously transferred into these areas by Germany as early as 1939. Entire families ended up in concentration camps at Majdanek (up to 15,000 prisoners of Action Zamość) and Oświęcim, before deportation to forced labour in the Reich. At Majdanek, due to severe overcrowding, entire train-loads were kept in open fields numbered from III to V.

There was also a portion of children designated for germanisation. Those, in which German anthropologists confirmed the presence of desirable racial traits, were supposed to go through transition by being placed in German families or German orphanages. Out of several thousand of children taken to Germany only 800 were successfully reclaimed.

The children were placed in special temporary camps of the health department, or Lebensborn e.V., called in German Kindererziehungslager("children's education camps"). Afterwards they went through special "quality selection" or "racial selection" — a detailed racial examination, combined with psychological tests and medical exams made by experts from RuSHA or doctors from Gesundheitsamt (health department). A child's "racial value" would determine to which of 11 racial types it was assigned, including 62 points assessing body proportions, eye color, hair color, and the shape of the skull.

During this testing process, children were divided into three groups (in English translation):

1. "desired population growth" (erwünschter Bevölkerungszuwachs);

2. "acceptable population growth" (tragbarer Bevölkerungszuwachs); and

3. "undesired population growth" (unerwünschter Bevölkerungszuwachs).

The failures that could result in a child, otherwise fitting all racial criteria, into the second group included such traits as "round-headed" referring to the skull shape. Children could be declared the third group for tuberculosis, "degenerate" skull shape, or for "Gypsy characteristics".

These racial exams determined the fate of children: whether they would be killed, or sent to concentration camps, or experience other consequences.

After the World War II this crime was investigated in Nuremberg. From Polish side statements came from Zygmunt Klukowski – a doctor from Szczebrzeszyn, who knew well conditions of camps in Zwierzyniec and Biłgoraj, and from three of the returned children.” (1)

Read more:

• „Nie było czasu płakać”: https://sklep.roztocze.com/regionalia/1102-nie-bylo-kiedy-plakac-zestaw-tom-1-i-2.html
• "Zwierzyniec", Matławska, H.